Mumbai: The BJP member of Parliament from Bhopal and prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, Pragya Singh Thakur, on Thursday tried to excuse herself from attending the special court on a permanent basis, saying she could not travel to Mumbai every week, as she had been conferred some ‘duties’ as an MP.
She also cited her ailments and her ‘lifestyle’ as a sadhvi, which precluded her travelling all the way to Mumbai once a week, to attend court. However, the special court threw out her plea.
Presently facing trial on murder and terror charges, Thakur had appeared before special Judge Vinod Padalkar, two weeks ago. Her first appearance made headlines after she threw tantrums over the 'unhygienic' conditions in the court and the judge's ‘insensitive’ approach. On Thursday, as the matter was taken up for hearing, Thakur’s advocate JP Mishra moved an application seek-ing permanent exemption for his client.
In her plea, Thakur stated, “I am suffering from various ailments and presently not in a condition to attend court. Also, being a sadhvi (a female ascetic), I have to follow strict discipline for my sadhna (worship) and adhere to certain dietary rules. Thus, I cannot attend the court. The plea further highlight-ed her ‘duties’ as an MP. “As per my party’s (BJP) whip, I have to attend the ongoing parliamentary session. Therefore, I cannot appear before the court at least till July 26,” the plea further stated.
Having considered the submissions, Judge Padalkar said the grounds were not genuine and reasonable. “This court understands that attendance of Parliament is necessary and one should obey the whip of the party, however, no documentary evidence about any such whip has been produced before me,” the judge said.
The judge went on to slam Thakur for throwing ‘unnecessary’ tantrums after the last hearing. “There were some statements by Thakur that the premises of court hall was not clean. One should note the fact that this court, on humanitarian grounds, had repeatedly asked her to sit on the chair. However, she refused to sit,” Judge Padalkar said. The judge further said, “I believe that Thakur’s statements were baseless and she intentionally did not notice the construction work going on in the court premises.”
